The First Lich Lord

What do we do now? Ezra asked.

I was in a meeting with Friar Brown and Ezra. We had kept it just the three of us to keep things moving quick. I had just finished relaying what I overheard as the enemy beat my possessed body to death. When they first mentioned blood magic, instead of breaking the connection I gritted my teeth, endured the pain, and listened. Friar Brown had confirmed that he already knew they were using blood magic from their initial engagement.

Are you strong enough to handle the monarch? I asked.

Friar Brown let out a long sigh. That is hard to say. Individually, maybe, together, no. Even if I had not lost so much power I dont know if I could handle them together. They were there when we invaded, but unlike me, they were not a lowly priest. They were already powerful then, and at one point in time they were my mentors.

You say they, I thought it was one person, Ezra asked.

Blaze and Umbri Grail, also known as the Pure Heralds, were born twins, Friar Brown explained. The story goes when they were born, they came out with one whose eyes were completely white and the other with eyes completely black. They were almost killed as the priest thought they were possessed, but then Olattee himself interfered and they were adopted into the church.

Sounds not great, I said. I assume one is the light side of Olattee and one is the dark side?

Yes. For a long time I assumed there was just no priesthood that followed Umbri. Brown bowed his head in shame. As I know now, I was wrong. I dont know if I should be insulted they did not try to recruit me or not.

Probably not, I said. They probably didnt try because they knew youd never go for it, take that as a compliment.

You speak of the war, are there any other powerful people still around other than you and the Heralds? Ezra asked.

No, Friar Brown said. All of them have either died or moved on. Valdor is only a small kingdom inside of this section.

Between the Heralds, the three archbishops, and the general we have six relatively powerful people we have to take care of if we go straight after the holy city, I said.

Those are merely the biggest threats there are, Friar Brown said. Many high priests and powerful clerics and monks are in the city. I would guess it is even worse than that though. I doubt anyone not aligned with rulers of the city have been allowed to remain. You will likely have to take out everyone.

How big is the holy city? I asked.

Quite a bit smaller than the capital, only a quarter the size, Friar Brown said. But that is still 50,000 people.

How is this even doable? Between the powerful priest, trained soldiers, and hordes of what I guess were going to be the blood zombies wed seen before, I couldnt even begin to understand how to approach this.

Im with you, I dont even see what we can do, Ezra said. I know Livia has said she will bring all of the guild that will come, and as many allies as she can get, but that can only do so much. I figured with that, we could probably handle at least one of the archbishops and most of the underlings, but 50,000, even if theyre just cannon fodder, is a lot.

Worry not, steps have already been taken to account for that. I didnt send only one message out when I contacted Rhea to bring you to my assistance, Friar Brown said. The good thing about this little scuffle is that those five were going to be a giant pain if they had still been in the holy city.

Speaking of which, you sure you dont mind that I keep all of the bodies? I gave him an uncertain look.

I do not mind, though I cannot say the same about my soldiers, Friar Brown admitted. Maybe one day they will see the living dead in a better light, but not yet. For now, wait for me to march away before you do anything. They all know whats going to happen, but not having to witness it is for the better.

I nodded in understanding. I hope one day they see it as I do, its why weve been leaving workforces behind.

That was a very good idea, Friar Brown agreed. While Im still getting used to it myself, I will admit that free, endless manual labor has a value.

How quickly do we need to attack the holy city? Ezra asked, getting us back on topic.

Well, Friar Brown looked in the direction of the holy city. The sooner the better. From what I know, theyre doing something similar to what Zeke found under that monastery, but on a much larger scale. Im sure the city is under their control and they have already started opening portals. We also need to not rush into it, and make sure we have as many forces as we can.

If you give Livia a week, she will have as much as she can muster, Ezra said, then turning to me she continued. That would give her time to get out into the real world and make some phone calls.

This place is real too, I said quietly.

Sorry, Ezra apologized. Thats just how we distinguish between them.

Friar Brown did not comment on the awkward exchange. That works for me, they can use the altars of creation to get where they need to. A week would give me time to pull in the forces I need.

Yes, same here, I nodded. Ezra, Ill need somebody to go back and let Vito know whats happening, he will know what to do and direct forces towards us.

***

Friar Browns army marched away the next morning. As we watched them go, I opened up my character sheet to go over the levels Id gained.

Stolen novel; please report.

Experience earned from this last battle was more than anticipated. The enemy forces had only numbered around 5000, while Friar Brown had the equivalent of that. They only managed to pin them in the fort because of the threat the five powerhouses had posed. My only guess as to why I gained so much experience, enough to get me four whole levels, was the force we had fought was generally higher level.

Character Soul Level: 138

Name: Ezekiel Verniac

Race: Human Lich

Foreboding Gravitas: 34

Unspent Stat Points: 20

Spent Stat Points: 670

5 Stat Points per level

Health: 1757

Health Regeneration: 68/sec

Death Energy Tier 1: 4079

Death Energy Regeneration Tier 1: 83/sec

Death Energy Tier 2 Storage Capacity: 15/46

Mana: 2647

Mana Regeneration: 72/sec

Carrying lbs.: 3425

Stats:

Intelligence: 262 [multiplier: 1.311] [40 from gear]

Spirit: 195 [multiplier: 1.23]

Vitality: 119 [multiplier: 1.15]

Resilience: 121 [multiplier: 1.15]

Death Core Tier 1: 323

Death Core Tier 2: 46 [multiplier: 1.21]

Agility: 143 [multiplier: 1.1]

Dexterity: 125 [multiplier: 1.21]

Experience: 50,368 of 162,113

Knowing the battle to come would require quick and powerful spells, I put all twenty points into intelligence, as much as I didnt really want to. In the battle, I had lost more bone guard and death knights, though I was able to recover almost all of them.

I looked at the mindless undead, debating about what to do. As we had marched, Id been replenishing my numbers. I was back up to over 2000, even having rushed here ignoring hamlets where I wouldve raised several hundred more. The banners ability to raise undead was not used in this fight, having been hesitant on how the friars forces wouldve reacted.

Thinking about the banner made me realize something, and it helped with my decision. We could march through hamlets and towns and not even need to visit the graveyard. The banner would raise the dead in the graveyards for us, assuming we gave it the power. With a stack of death cores at my feet, I set to work.

Several hours later the spell activated. I had been helped by the necromancers and death clerics. Theyd built the vast majority of the spell while I worked on the parts only I could do. A spell took form, and the fallen soldiers along with all of the animated mindless undead were affected.

Along with the power from cores, I had from the hundreds of soldiers I had killed or helped to kill directly. The bodies were picked up and pulled into the spell. An arch of death magic formed, and the bone guard marched into it and out the other side changed. The changes were subtle. They moved smoother, faces were less sunken, and the integrated bone armor they wore looked like actual armor made of bone. I pulled up a description.

Grave Guard

Level: 100

Grave guard are evolved bone guard. While not quite as powerful as a true third tier evolution, the grave guard are far more versatile. Their bodys are no longer husks and move with fluid grace despite their nature.

You know of no evolution paths for the grave guard. Evolving is not always necessary, as on their own, grave guards can grow to massive strength. Also, there are other less intuitive evolutions as well or they can evolve on their own in the right circumstances.

Grave Shot

Level: 100

Grave shots are an evolution of the bone archer. While not quite as powerful as a true third tier evolution, the grave shot are far more versatile. They are far more durable than the bone archers it evolved from. Their eyesight is unmatched and they now have an infrared vision ability. Every shot will take someone to the grave.

You know of no evolution paths for the grave shot. Evolving is not always necessary as on their own grave shot can grow to massive strength. Also, there are other less intuitive evolutions as well or they can evolve on their own in the right circumstances.

The grave shot and grave guard should be a significant upgrade for the core of my army. Damien had completed his message board and sent me the instructions. He had also included how to turn bone guard into bone knights, death knights, or death guard, something I hadnt known about, but the grave guard was what he told me I should make. While I trusted Vito, when it came to what to do with undead, I trusted Damien more.

I converted all of the bone guard and bone archers, the excess material left in a pile. Then, with a smile, I set out on the next spell. It was going to be the hardest by far, but I was the most excited about it. The five powerhouses we killed were what I needed, and I groaned a little at the thought of the other thing we needed.

I pushed in the last wisps of soul energy and my last point of tier 2 death energy. I didnt like being out of the potent power and I hated the feeling of working with soul energy, but Damien had very explicitly said both were needed. Another large spell activated, and this one the necromancers had been less help with than usual, but Othniel had been able to chip in. No physical material was picked up in this spell.

The bodies of the five powerhouses, one was technically a pile of ash, but it still counted where it mattered, were consumed. Another arch formed, this one out of a mixture of eldritch, soul, and death energies. The life thieves floated into it.

The bodies had been needed because they contained enough residual divine power to give it a spark. Also during the casting, Id gotten every single point of divine power from the Dread Thirteen and Agreldo. Life thieves entered one side and floated out the other, transformed into etheric beings wielding sides with blades of etheric eldritch energy. I excitedly pulled up the description, I was tired, but I couldnt wait.

Lesser Eldritch Reaper

Level: 100

Reapers are often servants of gods, but not always. Reapers are not the escorts of souls to the next life, that is left of the ferryman, but that does not mean they do not send many souls to the ferryman. A reaper in the service to a god serves the role of bringing death to any the god it deems deserves it. Sometimes this is a loyal servant who is at the end of their life and is suffering, other times it is enemies.

This is a lesser reaper, one day it might become worthy of serving a god, but not yet. The only way for this reaper to advance now is by taking lives. The wisps of soul energy it gathers with each kill will advance towards its next evolution.

This reaper did not form naturally, as most reapers do. The knowledge of how to create reapers is a closely guarded secret known by only a few. In the process of creating this reaper eldritch power was included, changing the nature of the reaper. It wields a weapon of eldritch power that will leave behind not just spiritual wounds.

I could have danced. The reapers were everything Damiens message promised. Though he had also said if I shared it with anyone, he would be very pissed. Which was why the necromancers hadnt been allowed to help me. Well, Othniel, Tola, and Izban were allowed to know. Its also why I didnt ask the death clerics for divine power, they would ask too many questions.

I used the leftover materials to create another six eldritch bone cannons and three flesh golems. Surprisingly, most of the material needed for upgrading the bone guard had been flesh and organs. Exhausted from spell craft, I ordered my army, through Abimelech, to get marching and climbed up onto the back of Snappy where I tried to let my mind settle. The rhythmic sound of marching boots soothed me.

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